The South Korean government says it is imposing sanctions on 15 North Koreans who engage in illegal cyber activities to raise money for their totalitarian state.
In a statement, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the individuals – Park Heung-ryong, Yoon Jung-sik, Lee Il-jin, Kim Kyung-il, Kang Hyun-cheol, Kim Cheol-min, Lee Geum-hyung , Kim Ryu-sung, Hwang-cheol, Ahn Il-nam, Seung-cheol-beom, Lee Young-rim and Park Dong-hyun – have been sanctioned in financing the weapons of mass destruction of North Korea (WMD) program.
The sanctioned individuals work as IT personnel abroad, mainly in China, Russia, Southeast Asia and Africa, where they reportedly disguise their identities to work for IT companies or engage in information theft and cyber-attacks.
The IT staff is believed to work under the 313 General Bureau, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Military and Industry, which oversees North Korea’s weapons production, research and development.
South Korea also imposed sanctions on the Chosun Geumjeong Economic Information Technology Exchange Company, which is alleged to be involved in sending North Korean IT personnel abroad to donate military funds to the regime.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis says North Korean hackers will have stolen $1.34 billion in 2024. A report by the United Nations (UN) Panel of Experts also says that cyber plunder covers about 40% of the costs of developing weapons of mass destruction in North Korea.
Don’t miss a beat – Subscribe to receive email alerts straight to your inbox
Check price action
Follow us further XFacebook and Telegram
Surf to the Daily Hodl mix
Generated image: Midjourney